


Choice

by Patrocool (all_the_homo)



Series: patchwork quilt [4]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Backstory, M/M, Origin Story, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Teenage Pregnancy, i promise that has nothing to do with the non-con, its between two consenting individuals, thats all implied btw nothing explicit, this is PRE-relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 03:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8733583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_the_homo/pseuds/Patrocool
Summary: “Zero to hero,” Alex mumbled idly. “Who’s Meg, who’s Pegasus, and who’s the goat dude?”	“John’s Pegasus,” Lafayette smirked. 	“You’re Meg,” John fired back.	“I am not a perverted satyr. Can I be Hades instead? His hair was cool.” Alex finally looked up from his book to raise an eyebrow. “I refuse to be the creepy goat man.”	“Didn’t Hades try to, ah, kill Hercules? Are you trying to tell us something, Alexandre?” Lafayette said teasingly.* * * * *Or, Alex is scared to get attached, Lafayette just wants a brother, Hercules is lonely and needs an IRL friend, and John punches Jefferson in the face.





	

**Author's Note:**

> lots of thanks to my WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL beta, paperbound, or as i like to call them, salad fingers. they helped me plot a lot of this out, and without their encouragement, i probably wouldve lost motivation on this story. thank you, friend <3 also you better not try to delete this note or ill kick yo ass. 
> 
> (paperbound was here)
> 
> you don't need to read the whole series to understand what's going on, this is a prequel, a little sneak peek on how they met.

**September, 1995**

“I hope you know that I don’t want to be here.”

Chin up, shoulders squared, spine straight and rigid. _Make yourself look bigger, don’t let them pity you, make it known that you aren’t here for their hand outs and that they can shove their worthless charity up their asses for all you care._

His current foster mother- Maria or something- paused from where she was doing dishes, and raised an eyebrow at him. She slowly put the rag and plate down and turned to him, her posture open and inviting. She tilted her head to the side, waiting for him to elaborate.

The fourteen-year-old Alexander Hamilton crossed his arms in the kitchen of the Washington’s house, dubbed Mount Vernon by its occupants. In the living room, he could hear the tap-taping of Mr. George Washington working on his laptop. Upstairs, in the bathroom, he could hear Lafayette, their godchild, singing Beyoncé on the top of his (their?) lungs.

“You aren’t my mom. He isn’t my dad. Lafayette isn’t my sibling. This isn’t my family or my home, and I’ll be out of here soon enough. I’ll change the world, just you wait, and you won’t have anything to do with it!”

She nodded her head like a stupid bobble head that you’d find at a dollar store, and in the next room, Alex heard the absence of typing. Angry, he swept his hand across the counter and knocked a glass bowl off of it and onto the floor, where it shattered.

“Martha? What was that? Are you and Alexander okay?” George called, footsteps quick.

Alex didn’t wait for Martha’s answer. He stormed upstairs, and slammed the door of the room he was staying in.

* * * * *

**January, 1997**

Even with a split lip and fury in his eyes, John Laurens was beautiful.

He had soft, tan skin with freckles scattered across it like stars in the night sky. He wondered how many constellations he could make by connecting them all together, what kind of intricate designs he could find, just how far the galaxy has spilled on this stunning boy in front of him, brighter than all of the light in the world around them.

“-and I don’t appreciate people stickin’ their noses where it don’t belong. They ain’t doin’ nothin’ to you, and you just had to walk all over them, didn’t you? Piece of shit.” John Laurens was ranting away at Thomas Jefferson (the new kid just punched the senior, Thomas Jefferson for making fun of Laf for being nonbinary!) and Alex was paying too much attention to his biceps and not enough attention to his words. It wasn’t his fault John decided to grace the world with his gorgeous muscles by wearing that tank top though! Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Jefferson press his sleeve to his nose and storm off, probably going to the nurse’s office, or his first period class.

He was once again distracted (by his hair this time, it looked like that princess from Rumpelstiltskin had woven this guy’s hair from that straw she made from gold, and then twisted it until they were perfect corkscrew curls-) and didn’t notice that John’s attention had turned to him and Lafayette until the boy was staring at him, eyebrows pinched in concern. “Hey, can you hear me? Are you okay? You look really red, maybe we should get you to the nurse's office?”

His brilliant green eyes were filled with worry, and all Alexander could think about was the leaves on trees in the summer, how when you looked up and could see the sun shining through them, that was the color of John’s eyes.

Then, someone was touching Alex, and it all fell away. Jerking back, he fell flat on his ass with Lafayette lunging in front of him. “Don’t touch him!”

John looked so startled, holding his hands up. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I’m sorry!”

Lafayette softened as they shook their head. “Non, non, mon ami, he did not think you were going to hit him because you had hit someone else. He just does not… ah… appreciate touch. Not even from me.”

With that, Lafayette turned and knelt in front of Alex, pressing their lips together. Their plaited skirt was getting muddy from kneeling, but for once, they didn’t seem to care. In soothing French, Lafayette spoke to him.

_“Little lion, are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?”_

_“I’m okay, I swear, pretty sure I landed on a rock, but it’s okay, nothing to go to the nurse for.”_

_“Do you want to call the Washingtons?”_

_“Not unless you do. I’m fine, really, I’m more worried about you, Jefferson said some pretty nasty stuff to you.”_

_“I’m fine, my friend, nothing I’m not used to,”_ Lafayette brushed off, but there was an air of finality with it. They weren’t going to talk about it anymore, and Alexander respected that enough to back off.

“Alexander is fine. He is tough.” They declared, getting up and brushing themself off. They held out their hand to hoist Alex up, and after a moment of hesitation, he took it. “Thanks, Laf,” he murmured. They simply smiled kindly, and squeezed his hand before letting go. They turned to John and slung an arm over his shoulder. “So, now that you are part of our, how you say, squid-”

“Squad, Lafayette, and it isn’t a squad if there was only two of us to begin with.”

“Details are not of importance, _Alexandre_ , it doesn’t matter. As I was saying, Alexander’s sixteenth birthday is coming up…”

* * * * *

**January, 1997**

“So, apparently Madison and Jefferson had a huge fight yesterday. Looks like this really isn’t his week, hm? First he gets punched, then he loses the only “friend” he’s got- Burr doesn’t count, he’s “friends” with everyone.” Alexander stole the apple from Lafayette’s lunch when they looked behind them, and took a bite. “Serves him right, he’s a dick. I still can’t believe you punched him, Laurens, you’re lucky Washington is fair when it comes to that kind of thing. Well. And a little biased, since Jefferson was making fun of Laf, but still, he takes fights seriously.”

John looked slightly confused. “I thought it was weird the principal only gave me a warning and a detention when I started a fight on my first day. What does Lafayette have to do with it, though?”

“First of all, Jefferson did throw the first punch, albeit a weak one. Second of all, Lafayette here is Washington’s kid. Well, technically god child, but. That doesn’t matter.” Alexander explained, munching on the stolen apple.

“You say that like you aren’t his kid too,” Lafayette said without thinking. They winced, and looked at Alex apologetically. “I’m sorry, _mon ami_ , I didn’t think-”

“I’m not his kid, Laf, I just happen to live in the same house for the past two years. He isn’t my dad, Martha isn’t my mom,” he snapped, staring at the table. “You aren’t my sibling.”

Lafayette flinched, and curled up a little in their seat. They slowly stood, lunch forgotten. “I-I… I’ll see you next period,” they whispered before rushing off. John watched with wide eyes as Alexander cringed, and reached out, voice lost as he watched Lafayette leave.

“Fuck, I…” Alex groaned, and buried his face in his knees. “Please don’t say it. I’ll apologize, I swear I will. Just… let them cool off for a while. They panic if someone corners them before they’re ready.”

* * * * *

**January, 1997**

**Zero the Hero:** yeah rt like hed actually believe that

 **O Romeo:** he did I swear it! He legit believed that I was selling drugs no one can tell the difference between my sarcastic tone and my actual voice

 **Zero the Hero:** thats nuts man

 **Zero the Hero:** i

 **Zero the Hero:** shit is someone crying???? i gtg jefferdouche probably beat up some poor freshman or something

 **O Romeo:** go save the world Herc

 **Zero the Hero:** shut up

 

Hercules Mulligan, a 17-year-old Junior at Liberty High School, slid his phone into his pocket, and slowly walked around the corner in the abandoned hallway towards the source of the crying. Curled up on the floor against the baby blue lockers was a tall, lanky student with black, frizzy hair tucked into bun, and plaited purple skirt pooling around them. Their face was tucked into their knees, blocking their face from view.

Hesitantly, Hercules knelt in front of them and gently tapped their shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?” He kept his voice soft and gentle, not wanting the kid to freak out. Oh god, what was he thinking? Maybe he should’ve just kept walking like any other high school student would in his situation.

But it was too late now, because the kid was looking at him, and holy shit, they were gorgeous. Chocolate brown eyes that seemed to go on forever, dark skin that almost seemed to glow, pretty lips that were a few shades lighter than the rest of their skin, and the barest hint of scruff growing on their jaw. It really wasn’t fair how their attractiveness hit him like a train, especially not since they were crying.

 _“Je suis désolé- merde, tu es attirant.”_ They said in soft, lilting French. Hercules blinked owlishly, and shifted, internally cursing himself for the things that the other student’s accent did to him. He couldn’t really tell the gender of the other person, the scruff on their chin implied male, but the skirt said otherwise. Maybe they were a trans girl, who knew? Hercules sure as hell wasn’t going to be an ass about it and ask. Maybe they were agender, or genderfluid, it really wasn’t any of his business. None of this was his business, honestly, but Hercules had too much of a big heart to leave them crying there.

“I… Do you speak English, or should I go find someone?” He asked softly, shifting from foot to foot. They stared at him for a moment.

“Oh,” they said softly, looking embarrassed. They rubbed their eyes, trying to rub away their tears. “Es'cuse me, I did not mean to speak in a different language. I ‘ave lived ‘ere long enough, one would zink…” They grimaced, looking to the side.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Hercules murmured, lightly tapping his chin to get them to look at him. Thank god they spoke English, he only spoke English and Gaelic, not a single word of French. “Why were you crying? Are you okay?”

They wiped their cheeks on their sleeve and avoided eye contact. “I-it is difficult to explain, my friend, Alexander, ‘e is a foster child of my adopted parents, and we are very close, but…”

Hercules waited patiently, slowly laying a hand on their shoulder. They leaned into the touch, and took a shuddering breath. “I see ‘im as family, but, according to ‘im, I am not ‘is sibling, and ze Washingtons are not ‘is parents, nor will zey ever be. And, I do not know, it’s just ‘ard. ‘e is like my bro-zer, and ‘e refuses to see me in ze same way. Well, in a… how you say… familiar? Is zat ze word?” They didn’t wait for Hercules to correct them. “A familiar way. I would ra-zer not ‘im see me as a bro-zer.”

“Let me get this straight. Your family is fostering a friend of yours, but he refuses to see any of you as his family. You want him to see you as a sibling, and that… isn’t happening.” Hercules clarified, and at their nod, he gave them a sympathetic look. “That must be awful, I’m sorry. But, uh. Look at it this way. If he’s in the foster system, that means he’s lost his original family for whatever reason, and chances are, he’s been taken away from good foster families too. He’s most likely expecting the rug to be ripped out from under him, and he’s ready to jump so he doesn’t fall. He doesn’t want to get close to you guys, because that’s like gluing your feet to the rug; it only makes it that much more painful, you know?”

They stared at him for a long moment, and then looked at their hands, murmuring to themself in French. “ _Oui,_ zat is, ah… accurate, I suppose. I never zought of it like zat, but it does make cents, no?”

He nodded slowly, deciding not to comment on the fact that they said “cents” instead of “sense”. “I’m Hercules, by the way. Herc is fine. I’m a junior.”

“Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. But everyone calls me Lafayette, or Laf.” They said quietly, slowly sitting up.

Hercules turned so he was sitting next to them, leaning against the lockers and whistled lowly. “That’s a mouthful. Must be a pain during roll call.”

“Ze Washingtons changed it for me,” they commented. “It’s technically Gilbert Lafayette in ze school system. Most people would not notice anything except it’s length, but anyone who spoke French who realized zat zey ‘ad a Marquis in zeir classroom?” They smiled wryly. “My family was essentially French royalty, not zat it counts for much anymore, but. It is still ‘igh status, no?”

He stared for a long moment, before nodding slowly and turning his head to face the lockers across from them. “Ah,” he said after a long moment. “Well. At least your name isn’t completely and utterly butchered then, right?”

Lafayette hummed in response as his gaze joined Hercules’ on the opposite wall, inspecting the penises someone drew like flowers in the corner of a locker, most likely in Sharpie since it wasn’t gone yet.

“Feeling better yet?” Hercules murmured after a few minutes. Lafayette, at some point, had laid their head on his shoulder, and he didn’t mind one bit.

“Oui. I should probably find Alexander.” They paused and then looked at Hercules shyly. “Would you, per’aps, like to sit with us at lunch tomorrow? It is just me, Alex and John Laurens, who we actually met yesterday. We, ah… do not ‘ave many friends, you see.” They paused, and cringed. “N-never mind, I am sure you ‘ave plenty of places you would razer be zan with a bunch of loser sophomores, you probably ‘ave friends of your own, I am sorry-”

“Hey, hey, Lafayette, don’t worry about it. I’m actually not a popular guy, and I would love sitting with you guys if you don’t mind,” Hercules interrupted, gently touching their knee.

They chewed on their lip nervously, and nodded, slowly. “Okay,” Lafayette agreed, and smiled a little. They stood, and held out their hand to help Hercules up.

Holy shit, Lafayette was tall. Almost as tall as Hercules himself, in fact, and that was quite the feat in itself. He swallowed as he hefted himself up, careful not to pull on the younger student too much, but as it turned out, Lafayette was packing quite a bit of muscle under the designer scarf, and jacket of theirs. Definitely not fair.

He cleared his mind of those kind of thoughts. He wasn’t going to make this into anything it wasn’t. Especially since Laf might end up being his first real life friend since freshman year. He tried not to think about that too hard.

* * * * *

**November, 1997**

“Jack, when are you going to bring a girl home?”

Henry Laurens was an impatient, and stern man, and he didn’t make an exception for anyone, not even his children. In fact, John was fairly certain that Henry was even meaner to his children than he was to the general public. The man was not tolerant of anything less than perfect.

Especially not a gay son.

Swallowing nervously, John shifted and tried a weak smile. “Well, I asked Peggy Schuyler on a date a few days ago.”

“And how did that go?” His face was stone cold and it made John feel so very small.

“Well, ah, she declined, but y’know, I wasn’t exactly going to badger her about it, was I?” Adam’s apple bobbing a little as he rubbed the palms of his hands on his pants nervously. He could hear his sister, Martha, upstairs talking to one of the younger siblings, probably Junior. He hoped she wouldn’t come down to witness this.

“Since you seem incapable of getting yourself a woman, I’ll have to do it for you.” His tone was sharp and disappointed. John flinched, shrinking back a little. Henry took no notice. “You will take Miss Martha Manning on a date. Don’t let me down, Jack.”

John hung his head low, body folded in on itself. Silently, he imagined seeing Alexander, laughing at a dumb turtle pun he had made. In order to keep Alex in his life, he had to do this.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good boy, Jacky. Now, go get your siblings ready for dinner.”

* * * * *

**March, 1998**

“You guys are gonna go through actual hell next year when you’re seniors, applying for colleges is so fucking stressful, you have no idea- baby girl, move over, I wanna sit on the bench too.”

Lafayette snorted at Hercules’ dramatics, and scooted over obediently. Once he sat, they laid their head in his lap, and continued scrolling through their phone. John was sitting on the ground in front of the bench, propping himself up by his elbows. Alex laid on his stomach next to him, nose stuck in his latest textbook. It was a warm spring day in Central Park, and the Revolutionary set was taking advantage of it.

“Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first seventeen million times you’ve told us,” John said teasingly, kicking Hercules in the foot. He huffed in response, gently playing with Laf’s hair.

“Whatever, John, I’m trying to warn you, but you guys keep brushing me off! You all’re a bunch of assholes, you know that?” Hercules had a smile on his face as he bantered, indicating that he wasn’t actually mad.

“Oh, of course, the mighty Hercules is only protecting us!” John pretended to swoon, and elbowed Alex, who grunted. “Ain’t that right, Hammie?”

“Zero to hero,” Alex mumbled idly, turning the page. “Who’s Meg, who’s Pegasus, and who’s the goat dude?”

“John’s Pegasus,” Lafayette chimes in, smirking.

“You’re Meg,” John fired back.

“I am not a perverted satyr. Can I be Hades instead? His hair was cool.” Alex finally looked up from his book to raise an eyebrow. “I refuse to be the creepy goat man.”

“Didn’t Hades try to, ah, kill Hercules? Are you trying to tell us something, Alexandre?” Lafayette smirked, teasing from their spot.

Hercules laughed softly, and rolled his eyes, his hand resting on Laf’s stomach. “You guys are dicks, and I hate you all. That movie is so inaccurate anyways.”

“Fuck yeah, it was, Hades was actually the least asshole-ish god in mythology, Zeus and Hera were the real fuckheads.” John interjected, stealing Alex’s book, and ignoring his protests as he dog-eared the corner of the page, putting it in his bag.

Alex huffed and sat up, crossing his arms with a pout. “You’re a fuckhead, John.”

He laughed, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, leaving a sloppy kiss on his cheek. “Oh, you love me!”

Alex yelped and shoved him away. He wiped his cheek with his sleeve, a look of disgust on his face. “Nasty motherfucker.”

Lafayette and Hercules laughed at the situation, hard enough that Laf almost rolled of the bench, only to have Hercules catch him. “Whoa, baby girl, careful there.”

Laf grinned up at him. “My hero!” They crowed, and then grinned. “He was a no one, a zero, zero. Now he a hot shot. He's a hero,” they sang off key, snapping at Alex and John to join in, which they did.

“He was a kid with his act down pat, from zero to hero in no time flat. Zero to hero, just like that!” The two others chorused with shit eating grins on their faces.

Hercules groaned and rolled his eyes. “I hate all of you so much, honest to god.”

“Reported, blocked, flagged and deleted,” Alex quipped in return, leaning against John with his head on his shoulder.

John opened his mouth to reply when his phone went off in his pocket. His smile faltered as he recognized the ringtone, a soft sigh leaving his lips. He dug his phone out, and pressed it to his ear, plastering a fake smile on his face. “Miss Martha Manning! How are you, my dear?”

Lafayette looked over, and saw the look on Alex’s face as he gently pulled away from John, taking his textbook back out. He sat crisscross, and rested the book in his lap, his hair hiding his face as he hunched over the text.

They turned to look at John, who was doing his best to pretend to be happy, and failing miserably. At least to them, he was, but they happened to be very in tune with their friends’ emotions.

“Mhm. Did he, now? Really? Well, that, uh. It was supposed to be a surprise, Mar.” John said into the phone, shooting Alex a questioning look. When Alex ignored him, he grimaced, and dropped his gaze, continuing the conversation.

Hercules was frowning at them, Lafayette observed. He probably understood something was off too, but he said nothing, just tapped his fingers above Lafayette’s hip thoughtfully.

The warm spring day in central Park suddenly felt very cold.

* * * * *

**June, 1999**

John wasn’t at school.

Normally, this wouldn’t be too odd, except for the fact that he hadn’t texted either of the siblings, and it was their graduation day. Not to mention a certain Miss Martha Manning had red rimmed eyes, and wouldn’t even look at Alex for some reason, completely ignored his existence. Lafayette didn’t have a good feeling about this.

“Here is an idea. Let’s ditch graduation, and go see what’s wrong with John, oui?” They murmured, tugging on Alex’s sleeve. Their brother flashed them a relieved grin, and nodded.

“I was thinking the exact same thing. The Washingtons won’t mind, they’ll understand, right?”

“Oui, of course they will, Alexandre. We must worry about John now though, non?”

“Right, right, okay. Okay. Let’s go.”

The two rushed out into the student parking lot, pulling off their robes as they climbed into the navy blue Jeep they shared, which Lafayette lovingly called “Petit Americana” for some reason that Alex would never understand. Lafayette in the driver’s seat, Alex riding passenger, texting their adopted parents with fast fingers.

As soon as they rolled to a stop, Alex was jumping out of the Jeep, and walking up to the doorstep of the Laurens household and knocked on the door, Lafayette behind him. It was fifteen-year-old Martha who answered the door with a sad smile. “Jack’s in his room. Quiet though, Mary is sleeping, and Jr. is doing homework.”

“Thanks, Martha,” Alex said softly as he slipped past her. Lafayette kissed both of her cheeks. “Yes, thank you, mon ami.”

The two rushed upstairs, and knocked on John’s door before slowly easing it open. “It’s Laf and I, we’re coming in.” Alex didn’t leave room for argument as he pushed his way into John’s room, looking around at the poster covered walls, and the bookshelves of movies, video games, books and various knick-knacks, and fell on the baby blue comforter on the bed. Or, more specifically, the lump underneath it.

He walked over and gently laid his hand on John’s back. “Hey, you okay? You’ve been talking about graduation forever, but now you’re skipping out on us? What’s up with that, man?”

John mumbled something inaudible, and Laf pinched their brows together, leaning forward. “What was that, mon ami?”

His head peeked out from under the blankets, and he looked like a mess. His normally fluffy hair was limp, his eyes red and puffy, and his lip bleeding a little from chewing on it. “Martha’s pregnant.”

With two words, Lafayette and Alex were stunned into silence, eyes wide, mouths gaping.

John continued without waiting for a response. “Dad’ll disown me, of course, can’t risk his son ruining his oh so perfect image, so I’ll have to move out and somehow support myself, and since I thought Dad would be paying for college, I didn’t apply for scholarships, other people needed them more, but now I have an acceptance into a school I’ll never be able to afford, and without a college education, I don’t really have many choices for jobs, especially not one that would support me, Martha and a baby. So… I’ll have to join the army-” he ignored Lafayette’s choked gasp, “that’ll make enough money that it’ll at least pay for the baby expenses and cover for the months that Martha won’t be able to work.”

“John, please think about this, you can’t join the military-”

“I can and I will, Alex. You can’t make my decisions for me. You wouldn’t understand anyways; you don’t have a family.” John snapped back without thinking.

Lafayette gasped, and Alex’s face went from worry to blank, staring right through him. John realized his mistake immediately, and reached out to grab Alex’s wrist as he turned away. “Alex, please, I didn’t mean-”

“Save it, Laurens,” Alex said, voice stone cold as he ripped his arm out of John’s grasp. “Laf, let’s go. We don’t have a place here anymore.”

Lafayette’s eyes filled with tears as they followed Alex, hesitating at the door. They turned back, rubbing their eyes. “I love you, mon ami. Please come back home.”

They left, and John never felt more alone in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> in case salad fingers tries to change the beginning note again, my beta is wonderful, and beautiful, and all around amazing human being. so! what about that ending, eh? and just so y'all know, john DID consent to having sex with martha, she didnt pressure him into anything. and they are both 18! and in case you didnt figure it out, the baby is indeed our darling frances.
> 
> little details are important in this series!! take not of timing, and reasons that are unknown:) 
> 
> on a completely unrelated note, i wonder what tjeff and jmads fought about,,,,
> 
> tell me what yall think, i live for validation.
> 
> talk to me on tumblr @patrocool, twitter @nb_lafayette, instagram @nonbinary.fighting.frenchman . 
> 
> feel free to leave requests in the comments! i will add chapters to this, if anyone is interested and gives me ideas.


End file.
